Mercury Marine powers SUNUS Ocean Racing Spectre to world record attempt
London, England - SUNUS Ocean Racing’s (SOR) Spectre race boat will attempt to break the world record this summer, for the fastest circumnavigation of the British Isles. The Spectre powerboat C237 will be powered by Mercury Racing 400R outboard Verado engines as it sets out on its record setting mission covering 2,000 nautical miles along the west coast of Ireland. The boat, which will hit speeds of close to 100mph, is UK’s fastest production leisure craft.
The C237 is skippered by record-holding powerboat racer Tom Montgomery-Swan along with navigator Michal Galczewski. The two will be joined by television personality Ben Fogle and Barrus’ Ben Allen who rounds out the four-member crew. In 2016, SOR partnered with Barrus, Mercury’s UK distributor, as its outboard engine supplier.
With a team goal of 60 hours, SOR aims to run the boat at over 45mph non-stop and smash the current record of 73 hours. The SOR team currently holds the Club Class Unlimited speed record at 93.01mph and the Marathon record at 89.6mph.
“We are delighted to work with the SUNUS Spectre race boat and Barrus on this incredible journey,” said Martin Bass, president Mercury Marine EMEA. “We have enjoyed a long and successful relationship with Barrus and are excited to see the 400R Verado outboards take the crew on this record-breaking mission. Those engines are powerful and reliable and are the perfect match for this boat.”
The team has worked together to utilize the latest technology from Mercury Marine to set the record with sustainability at the forefront of their mind. The crew will have the luxury of the Mercury VesselView Link and the new VesselView Mobile app which allows the SOR team access to engine data whilst on-board. VesselView Link is compatible with other navigational devices and the SOR team will be pairing the system with the Simrad NSS EVO3 to benefit from more functionality.
The SOR team will use its platform to raise awareness and funding for stillbirth. Both Montgomery and Fogle have suffered the loss of a child born still at full term and plan to use their latest challenge to draw national spotlight on their awareness campaign with a viewpoint of raising funds for the associated charities.